It’s almost the New Year – only a couple of more days to get your resolutions ready…So you’re drinking lemon water with cayenne pepper every morning (Habit #1) and eating less refined sugar (Habit #2)…. now what?
How about fasting everyday? Ut oh – I just heard a record screech …
What? Fast everyday?! That’s insanity, you might be thinking. But it’s not – especially when you are only fasting for half the day and most of the time you are sleeping.
Habit #3 – Fast Every Single Day - At least 12 hours from the time you eat your last meal until the time you “break” the “fast” with breakfast.
Adopting this habit can be so rewarding, restorative to your health, ultimate youth and beauty!
After reading several studies and chapters on detoxification from Dr. Gabriel Cousens and Dr. Alenjandro Junger – I now understand it takes at least 8 hours for your body to completely digest it’s meals from the day. If you add in another 4 hours to that time without introducing more food to digest, the body actually goes into detoxification mode and has more time to remove dead and dying cells from the body. During this “idle” time, the body also stimulates the development and regeneration of new cells. “Aging occurs when we have more cells die than are being produced.”
Allowing your body sufficient time every single day to digest, eliminate dying cells and develop new cells is a habit that will get you closer to drinking straight out of the fountain of youth!
More Incredible Benefits of “Intermittent” Fasting -
- Improved Fat Burning - When you fast for 12 hours, your body has to use up stored glucose for fuel, burning excess fat off your body.
- The Brain Can Fight Stress Better – 12-hour fasts give the brain a chance to fight the chemical byproducts of stress. They also help the mind to re-focus and improve memory and sensory perception. Also, short fasts promote the production of beta-hydroxybutyrate, which is a protective brain chemical that can make you less sensitive to excitotoxins like MSG.
- Promotes Heart Health – 12-hour fasts lower the body temperature, the blood pressure, and the heart rate and increase your good cholesterol.
Following this habit is extremely easy for me and can be easy for you too – I try to keep my dinner time somewhere between 7pm and 8pm, go to sleep around 11pm, then wake up early to work out and then I “break the fast” at or about 8:30am or 9am. Finding the right time frames might be different for you based on your schedule – but if you are eating lots of whole non-processed foods this habit should be sustainable for life.
One of the most amazing things I immediately noticed after I adopted this habit was that I woke up with more energy and was better rested. If you’ve ever gone to bed with a full stomach, you know what I mean!
Here’s to breaking the fast and waking up feeling lighter, more rested and re-engerized in the New Year and Beyond!
Food Babe
P.S. Got questions or comments? – I’d love to hear what you have to say here or on my Facebook Fan Page!
I really liked this article. I always eat an early dinner but sometimes have a snack right before bed. Sometimes I wake up in the morning not even hungry or even feeling sluggish. This 12 hour gap seems perfect to let my body digest and feel ready to start the new day.
Thank you for this insightful article. And here I was, taking the advice of countless “doctors” and “nutritionists”, who say to eat every 3-4 hours to keep the metabolism stoked. So I was setting my alarm to wake me up every 3.5 hours to eat a small meal/snack.
Thanks for humor Troutmama!
hey! this is great. i can implement all of this except maybe the cayenne … but should you wait to drink your hot lemon water until your breakfast or do you drink it before your workout? does drinking apply to this 12 hour thing?
sorry….just read the water post.
i have my answer
Great! That was easy! Happy New Year Shelly!
I would really like to know the answer to shelly’s question bc I can’t seem to find the answer!
Thanks!
Hi Heather – Not sure which part of the Shelly’s question you were referring to – but I’ll try to help. I drink my lemon juice with hot water and cayenne first thing when I wake up no matter what time it is – I do this before I do anything else – workout or have breakfast. And no the 12 hour rule doesn’t really apply to Habit #1 because it further helps detoxification. Hope this helps!
Thank you! That is exactly what I wanted to know!
Thanks for the post, this makes perfect sense, I feel awful when I eat dinner too late and go to bed full. I will have to think about how to implement this as I start work at 730am, we usually have breakfast by 6:30am, I suppose I just need to make sure that I eat dinner before 6:30pm, that should be possible most days if I’m organised!
Now that we’re in to the year a good 9 weeks, I was wondering if you had any other notable changes from your 12 hour nightly fast. I am intrigued and see how there could be great benefit from this practice.
Thanks!
Dose drinking the lemon water count as breaking the fast or not until I have an actual meal?
(She noted above) – the lemon water thing doesn’t count. =)
I absolutely love the idea of this. However, I wake up around 5:30-6 during the week days to work out before I have to be at work between 8-8:30. I feel that if my last meal was at 6pm and I didn’t fall asleep til after 10, that it would be pretty difficult to do. Any advice?! I’m super interested!
I would love to try this idea, but I’m not sure how I would implement it. I get up between 5 & 6 and eat between 6:30 and 7 because I leave for work at 7:30. However, I don’t get home until most days 5, but some days almost 7. If I’m only cooking for myself that wouldn’t be too much of a problem, but when I am cooking for my family, sometimes we can’t eat until 7:30 or 8:00. I might be able to get a solid 10 hour fast, but doing 12 would be very difficult. Any suggestions? Thanks
I’m not sure what Food Babe would suggest, but a friend of mine has taken to taking her breakfast with her and eating first thing when she gets to work (she has to anyway because of some medication she takes first thing in the AM, and she can’t eat for an hour after taking it).
Depending on where you work, that seems pretty easy? I do this sometimes too, I’ll take some pre-measured almonds and a banana and apple with me, for example. That’s pretty easy and doesn’t need refrigeration. Or you could leave oatmeal packets at work and eat first thing when you get there (even get there 15 minutes earlier to eat when you arrive).
There are definitely folks at my office who eat at work! Probably because a lot of folks aren’t hungry before they leave for work. Anyway, just some thoughts. =)
I’ve actually been fasting 12 hours for the past two weeks or so and have noticed more energy. Once I reach my cut off time in the evening, I begin the fast and haven’t been drinking water during that time either. This is probably a silly question but can I drink water during the fast?
Thanks!
)
I am nursing my baby and need to eat more than “normal” (like when I was pregnant)…should I wait to try fasting when I’m done nursing?
Does this fasting include drinking water? I’m fine with the break from eating but I’m nursing a baby and still get very thirsty
. Thanks! I’m learning lots from your blog!